IT News
How Rwanda is Encouraging an Entire Generation of Women in Tech
Sourced from Women in Tech Africa. In 2020, Rwanda was the only African country ranked in the top 10 of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report. It ranked in the top four in the Report’s political empowerment category, in recognition of the high proportion of Rwandese women lawmakers and ministers. Rwanda, therefore, seemed a natural fit for a 2018 pilot programme of the African Development Bank’s Coding for Employment initiative, with Nigeria, Kenya, the Ivory Coast and Senegal. The Coding for Employment flagship programme is establishing 130 ICT centres for excellence in Africa, training 234,000 youths for employability and entrepreneurship to create over 9 million jobs. Hendrina C. Doroba, Manager in the Education, Human Capital and Employment Division at the Bank, explains ...
Misinformation About COVID-19 Can Be Devastating in Rural West Africa
Sierra Leone was later than most to experience its first cases of COVID-19. Though the virus itself did not arrive in the country until 31 March 2020, rumours and fears spread among communities well before the country’s first confirmed case. As happened during the Ebola outbreak from 2014-2016, this pandemic has led to rumours and misinformation that leave some people fearful of visiting healthcare facilities. This could have a devastating effect on children as, at 105 deaths per 1,000 live births, Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of child mortality in the world. Memories of Ebola mean adopting new hygiene measures to reduce the spread of a pandemic is nothing new for people in Sierra Leone. However, as during Ebola, rumours can spread easily and this can lead to a ...
How COVID-19 has Influenced Online Shopping Habits
Sourced from Innovation Village. All things considered, it’s no surprise that eCommerce has fundamentally changed over the past few months. The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged consumers to switch to online shopping and contactless payment alternatives to abide with social distancing practices and lockdown regulations. Stats released by online payment gateway, PayFast show that Generation Z, aged 18 to 24, is paving the way for innovation in the eCommerce space, with Baby Boomers aged 55 to 64, not far behind. “The eCommerce boom was bound to happen, but COVID-19 definitely accelerated industry growth. We’ve seen adoption rates soar following on from the lockdown, this has occurred across age groups. Habits formed now are going to continue in the future,” says Jonathan Smit, MD and Founder...
Web Skimming – A New Way to Steal Payments from Online Shoppers
Sourced from IOL. Researchers from cybersecurity and antivirus experts, Kaspersky, have uncovered a new technique for stealing users’ payment information on online shopping websites – a type of attack known as web skimming. Web skimming is a popular practice used by attackers to steal users’ credit card details from the payment pages of online stores, whereby attackers inject pieces of code into the source code of the website. This malicious code then collects the data inputted by visitors to the site (i.e. payment account logins or credit card numbers) and sends the harvested data to the address specified by attackers. Often, to conceal the fact that the webpage has been compromised, attackers register domains with names that resemble popular web analytics services, such as Google Analyti...
5G and Enterprise, a Match Made for Growth
Digital technologies are transforming industries worldwide. With 5G being deployed across the region, service providers increasingly recognise the new business opportunities that digital transformation of the enterprise market will bring. However, to successfully address these opportunities and accelerate longer-term growth, they need to extend their focus from traditional revenue streams to centre on digitalising targeted industries. While leading service providers in the region are already taking steps to look beyond connectivity and focusing on a few specific industries, they should also expand their strategic ambition beyond mobile broadband in each targeted industry. According to an Ericsson report entitled “Capturing business opportunities beyond mobile broadband”, almost half of the...
South Africa Begins First COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
Sourced from Getty Images The University of Witswatersrand has announced that South Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine trial is set to begin, with participants to be enrolled by the end of the week. “This is a landmark moment for South Africa and Africa at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we enter winter in South Africa and pressure increases on public hospitals, now more than ever we need a vaccine to prevent infection by COVID-19,” Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University and Director of the South Africa Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Shabir Madhi, says in a virtual briefing. This new trial aims to find a vaccine that will prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is the virus that causes COVID-19. “We began screening participants for ...
How to Make Money Teaching English Online
The online education market has grown rapidly within recent years. Opportunities for teachers to make money teaching English online are abundant. But make no mistake. You’ll have a lot of competition. In this blog post, we’ll give you some tips on how to stand out and get started making money teaching English online. With everything from qualifications and working hours to marketing and creating a virtual classroom. Your online English teaching adventure has only just begun. Get Qualified This is a crucial first step in your online English teaching career. Paying customers want to be sure they are not studying with a cowboy teacher. Your qualifications are a quick and easy way for potential students to see your teaching ability. As a minimum, most online teaching companies generally requir...
Microsoft Shuts Down Streaming Platform Mixer, Partners with Facebook Gaming
Sourced from Geekwire. Microsoft is closing its Mixer video game live-streaming service on 22 July 2020 with plans to move existing partners and streamers over to Facebook Gaming. Mixer, launched in 2016, will now no longer be operated by Microsoft as a service. The reason for this decision is that the company has struggled to reach the scale needed for Mixer to compete with Twitch, YouTube, and even Facebook Gaming itself. “We started pretty far behind, in terms of where Mixer’s monthly active viewers were compared to some of the big players out there,” says Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s head of gaming, in an interview with The Verge. “I think the Mixer community is really going to benefit from the broad audience that Facebook has through their properties, and the abilities to reach gamers in...
Apple Introduces iOS 14, “the Biggest Update Ever”
Apple took to the online stage at WWDC to officially unveil iOS 14, in its words, “the biggest update ever to Home Screen“. The update includes “redesigned widgets and the App Library, a new way to tap into the App Store with App Clips, powerful updates to Messages, and more”. Home Screen updates According to Apple, widgets can be pinned in different sizes on any Home Screen page. Users can create a Smart Stack of widgets, which uses on-device intelligence to surface the right widget based on time, location, and activity. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_5e5.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_5e5.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “iOS 14 transforms the most iconic elements of the iPhone experience, starting with the biggest update we’ve ever made to the Home Screen,” says Craig Federighi...
5 Keys to Employee Education, Training and Development
The world is changing fast. That statement is true of all times, but it feels particularly pertinent now as most businesses begin to imagine what a post-COVID-19 landscape could, and should, look like. One thing is for certain, though. Successful business leaders will need to ensure that their employees have proper education, training, and development courses to ensure that they’re able to tackle any and all challenges they encounter in the future. To that end, today we’ll focus on the five keys to implementing a thriving training and development program at your organization. Check them out here: 1. Retention First thing’s first: if you want to develop talented professionals at your company, you have to retain their services. Fortunately, just by focusing on employee training and dev...
Women Peacebuilders lead COVID-19 Prevention Efforts Across Libya Via WhatsApp and Zoom
Sourced from the Wilson Center. Separated by their country’s divisions, both geographically and politically, 36 Libyan women have since used their phones to connect, discuss and overcome their differences in the interest of one goal: Peace in Libya. They have been a part of this network since July 2019. Members of the group are not new to activism. Each member has her own network of activists in her own region where she is already working to support their own communities. Although rarely documented, Libyan women have always had a vital role in managing conflicts and making peace in their own families and communities. For almost a year now, the Network has met weekly on WhatsApp and Zoom to find ways for Libyan women to enter male-dominated decision-making and negotiation spaces. They seek ...
PLWSCD are at Higher Risk of Complications when Infected with COVID-19
Persons Living with Sickle Cell Disease (PLWSCD), are at a higher risk of getting infected with COVID-19, Kenya’s Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS), Dr Rashid Aman says. The CAS noted that PLWSCD are more likely to get severe illness if they get infected due to their impaired immunity resulting from the blood disorder and urged them to strictly observe the precautionary preventive measures for COVID-19. “During this period of Coronavirus pandemic, persons living with sickle cell disease are advised, to ensure they keep a minimum of a one-month supply of medication at all times. In addition, they should consult their healthcare providers should they experience COVID-19 symptoms,” he notes. Sickle Cell is a genetic disease characterized by a change in the shape of a red blood cell,...
